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Coordination as a Key to Success

October 31, 2007 from Pawel Brodzinski

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Generally I’m a big believer in delegation. I choose to delegate task along with ability to make decisions about the subject and responsibility for achieving success or failing. I accept the fact it brings failures sometimes which I’m partly responsible for. However it gives people a right to decide (which they usually consider as something positive) and teach them accountability (which is always positive). It also eliminates makes organization healthier as management tasks are distributed all over the team and the boss is no longer a bottleneck. Several failures are really a fair price to get all of that.

Having said that, there are moments where you have to switch to manual steering. Your PM is on the road going on weekly meeting with customer and you have emergency situation in that very project. Customer escalated an issue which looks stupid but is really (I mean really) important for them. You’re running out of time in the project while the team looks like children in the fog trying really hard but with no visible effect. At the moment no one is able to take a look from higher perspective being highly dedicated on own tasks, yet unfortunately leaving people’s efforts disconnected. I could continue until this blog post is the longest one in the Internet. Then, it is time to forget about your automatic transmission and switch to manual shift. Someone has to take the role of coordinator.

No, it is not micromanagement. You don’t tell people how to do things. You just coordinate everyone efforts. In the real life it usually ends up running from one desk to another in amok having multiple phone calls every time you move between different rooms in the office. First phase is learning – where are problems, how they can be fixed, who can do that. Then it’s time to check why it isn’t going the right way automatically. Maybe someone isn’t aware of importance of task. Maybe you lack a person, who is on holidays. Maybe information flow sucks. And finally it’s your time. Time to act. Time to go and kick asses. To get the job done. You go explain people why their part is essential, help them with whatever they need to do what they need to do and finally you go check another bottleneck which appears on the way.

Yes, I know, being COO the whole thing is easier because actually most people I talk with are my subordinates, so sometimes they find a bit discomforting when rejecting me when I ask them to do something (but only sometimes and only a bit). Anyway, usually the issue is not in lack of will to do some action, but in lack of awareness that it is darn important and should be done right now. I mean now. Another typical case is several packet lost in communication between people which ends up with people solving the wrong problem or waiting for thing which will never come. It doesn’t require a hero to solve those issues. A couple of phone calls and another couple of chats is usually enough to congratulate yourself a job well done. Of course as far as you work with people you can count on (and fortunately I do).

Every single time when it happens to me to run as mad through the office trying to push things a bit further, ensuring myself everyone’s effort is focused on achieving the same goal I feel that’s the real work. Not those long strategy meeting, not discussing with customers functional details of the new project, not all those bureaucracy which follows you since you were promoted to middle management roles, but seeing things being created in minutes with a little bit of your help. Don’t get me wrong, all those others things are (I guess) important, but won’t replace me that feeling of being still useful from time to time.

Leaving my satisfaction on a side I saw way too many situations where team ended up hitting hard to the wall with their heads just because no one was able to coordinate and guide people a bit. It’s like binder between bricks. As far as you don’t use it you end up with a pile of bricks instead of house. A regular project management is like binder while building a house, but an emergency coordination role is a bit like borrowing a bag of cement from adjoining building site when you run out of yours. Without that bag you will probably end up with a pile of bricks (maybe more impressive but still) no matter how hard you try.

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